Belize-Kovasky+Buezo

B eliz e

Kovasky Buezo

Ms. Hillier 10B Around the World Project

Did you know that Belize was known as British Honduras until 1973? Belize is located in Central America and occupies 22,966 sq. km. Belize's national language is English, even though only about 3.9% of the total population speak it. Belize counts with one of the largest coral reef in the world, with about 260 km. long. Sugar occupies about half of Belize's exportations. Apart from this, Belize is also known for its great flaura and fauna. Belize is getting better year after year and it is proved by its unemployment percentage and its GDP.



The number of people living in Belize is about 327,719. The population density is about 14 people per sq. km. which is not a lot knowing that Honduras has a population density of about 67. The birth rate is 26 births/1000 people and the death rate is about 6 deaths/1000 people. Belize has 0 migrants/1000 people. The infant mortality rate is a bit high, at 21 deaths/1000 births. The population growth rate is pretty high, about 2% each year. Life expectancy is average, at 66 years for males and 70 years for females. The doubling time for this country is 34.8 years.



Belize is getting to the point where it is going to stop being a LEDC and become a MEDC. The unemployment rate for 2016 is predicted to be about 9%, that is the lowest in about 9 years! Even though it is still pretty high compared to the neighboring countries, it is getting better each year. The Government of Belize gives health care at low or no cost. The problem with this healthcare is that most emergency services are located by the bigger cities like Belize City which can explain that high infant mortality rate. When the population doubles, it will be well prepared because unemployment on Belize is falling year, after year. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Belize contributes to the fact that Belize is a growing country. As of 2000 the GDP per capita was of $3,330.96, while in 2010 it was of $4,060.87.



The most dangerous diseases you could get in Belize are Hepatitis A, Typhoid Fever and Malaria, which can get treated if found early or if you go to a good hospital. I don't think that is too much of a problem if you live near the big cities because you have hospitals near. This causes a problem for people who live in a rural area because transportation can get complicated due to the fact that emergency transportation is limited to the large cities. AIDS is not a very big problem because less than 500 people died in 2009. One major problem that Belize has is that there is no free education. Parents must pay a fee so their children can go and get an education. Even though it has programs like free summer camps for 4th to 6th graders, it still doesn't satisfy the need of other people who would benefit from the free schools. Belize would definitely be getting better results on becoming a developed country if it offered free education.



Belize has a great variety of flaura and fauna. Forests contain more than 700 types of trees. Some of the most common trees are cashew, apple, and banana trees. Belize holds more than 4,000 types of plants and from those, 250 types are orchids, from which the Black Orchid is the national flower. It has the largest population of manatees in the world. They have many mammals and reptiles, like monkeys, jaguars, yellow-jaw tommygoff (type of snake), and crocodiles but their national animal is the tapir.

Tapir

Black Orchid

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